Calandagan has finished 2025 where few French-trained horses ever do — alone at the top of the global rankings.

The Aga Khan Studs homebred earned a rating of 130 to be crowned the Longines World’s Best Racehorse of 2025, with the honor confirmed at the Longines Racing Awards ceremony in London. No rival came closer than 128.

The defining performance was Calandagan’s authoritative victory in the G1 Champion Stakes at Ascot, officially recognized as the single best effort by any racehorse worldwide last year. Trained in France, the son of Gleneagles also captured the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and the Japan Cup, completing one of the most demanding elite campaigns of the modern era.

Calandagan became the first French-trained outright winner of the award since Waldgeist shared the title in 2019 with Crystal Ocean and Enable.

The depth of opposition he defeated was central to his rating. The Champion Stakes and the Japan Cup jointly topped the Longines World’s Best Horse Race rankings with identical ratings of 126.25, the first time two races have shared top billing. The figure is calculated using the average ratings of the first four finishers in each contest.

Both races featured elite opposition, including Ombudsman and Masquerade Ball, two of five horses tied for second overall on a rating of 128.

Ombudsman, by Night Of Thunder and trained by John and Thady Gosden, added the G1 Prince of Wales’s Stakes and G1 Juddmonte International to his record. Japan’s Masquerade Ball, a son of Duramente, reached the top level with victory in the Tenno Sho (Autumn).

The same rating was achieved by Forever Young, whose Saudi Cup and Breeders’ Cup Classic victories underlined Japan’s growing global influence, and by Sovereignty, whose dirt campaign included wins in the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes. Completing the group was Hong Kong sprinting star Ka Ying Rising, who extended his winning streak to 16 races with back-to-back Hong Kong Sprint victories and a successful raid on Australia’s The Everest.

A rating of 127 went to Calandagan’s stablemate Daryz after his career-defining victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, alongside Romantic Warrior and Sierra Leone, both of whom produced peak performances in defeat behind Forever Young in the Saudi Cup and Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Further depth was evident among the horses rated 125, including Fierceness, Delacroix, Field Of Gold, Japan’s Danon Decile, and Jan Brueghel, the only horse to defeat Calandagan in 2025 when landing the Coronation Cup at Epsom.

Among fillies and mares, Minnie Hauk emerged as the world’s top-rated performer on 123 after victories in the Oaks, Irish Oaks, and Yorkshire Oaks, before finishing second to Daryz in the Arc.

Behind the Champion Stakes and Japan Cup, the Breeders’ Cup Classic ranked third among the world’s top races, followed by the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Dubai Sheema Classic. Britain hosted the most races in the global top 100, ahead of Australia and the United States, highlighting the sport’s continued international balance.

On the riding front, James McDonald secured the Longines World’s Best Jockey title for the second consecutive year and third time overall. He finished the season with 184 points, comfortably ahead of Mickael Barzalona and William Buick under the race-weighted scoring system.

In total, 279 horses trained across 15 countries achieved ratings of 115 or higher in 2025, a modest increase on the previous year and a reflection of the depth at the top of world racing.

Credit : Scoop Dyga